Government Legal Department - Senior Commercial Litigation Lawyer

Hays Legal is pleased to be exclusively appointed to work on these two newly created senior Commercial Litigation appointments across Leeds and Manchester.

About GLD | Government Legal Department | Hays UK

Senior commercial litigation lawyers lead other commercial litigation lawyers and support Deputy Directors in the delivery of commercial litigation legal services to large Government Departments and Arm’s Length Bodies.

You will lead, manage, develop and supervise the work of other lawyers within your team. You will need to be comfortable working at pace and exercising judgment in relation to matters of national importance. You will be expected to role model sound professional skills and to provide strong professional leadership, helping to build capability in the organisation in line with corporate objectives.

Commercial Litigation and dispute resolution specialist lawyers within GLD conduct litigation and provide legal advice to government departments and public bodies on some of the most important and interesting matters in the country which are frequently scrutinised in Parliament and the media. Our clients are central government departments including the Home Office, the Department for Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, and the Intellectual Property Office.

As a senior commercial litigator and dispute resolution specialist you will be involved in:

1. Conducting commercial litigation on behalf of the Government
2. Providing legal advice on litigation, disputes and contentious matters, across the full range of clients.
3. Supporting the Deputy Director for the team in successfully delivering the work of the team
4. Proactive and collaborative working with external delivery partners, notably counsel; helping to quality control their work, and helping to hold them to account for delivery to time, cost and quality in relation to their litigation and disputes work
5. You will be expected to demonstrate strong communication and leadership skills as well as strong skills of legal and strategic analysis, sound judgement, pragmatism and pro-activity.
6. You will also be expected to make a valuable contribution to the wider team and the department through playing a proactive role on matters such as knowledge management, training, projects and other corporate opportunities that demonstrate GLD Values.

The Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team.

The Commercial Law Group at GLD has a dedicated Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. The team is made up of around 24 qualified lawyers and is headed up by a Deputy Director, who leads a senior management team of 8 grade 6 lawyers. There are currently 14 grade 7 lawyers and Legal Officers, who will be joined by successful applicants for this role. The team also has 2-5 Legal Trainees at any one time, a paralegal and an administrator. The team is friendly and welcoming with a strong culture of teamwork.

The team’s work is high profile and mostly of very high value, and regularly involves working with governmental colleagues on cross-cutting issues. Lawyers can expect to deal with a wide range of topics, including:

1. Commercial contract litigation
2. Public procurement litigation
3. Intellectual property litigation
4. Construction litigation
5. Public law litigation
6. Judicial review

Given the nature of the team’s client base and the type of disputes it handles, team members will often be required to advise on important questions of policy and to handle sensitive information belonging to both the government and third parties.

The team conducts cases in a range of different forums, including:

1. The High Court – most often the Technology and Construction Court, but also the Administrative Court (judicial reviews), Commercial Court and Chancery Division.
2. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court
3. Arbitrations
4. Adjudications, particularly in relation to construction disputes
5. Mediations

Lawyers in the team actively utilise all methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution, with a particular focus on reaching commercial settlements through negotiation and mediation. They lead within GLD on the use of e-disclosure platforms and other technological innovations.

Benefits: Alongside your salary of £71,000, Government Legal Department contributes £20,568 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

1. Holidays – 25 per annum (rising to 30 after 5 years’ service)
   1. plus one privilege day for monarch’s birthday in addition to 8 bank holidays
   2. plus buy and sell annual leave (the ability to buy up to an additional 5 days)
2. Learning and development tailored to your role
3. An environment with flexible working options
4. A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
5. Working pattern – Full-time, Job share, Part-time
6. Hybrid working – 60% office based

This is a rare senior commercial litigation opportunity within the Government Legal Department, the largest provider of legal services across government. Offering some of the most interesting, varied, complex and high-profile commercial work available in the UK, you will lead and develop a team in this strategic new appointment.

To learn more about this opportunity, please send your CV to Adele Callaghan or email for a return call to have a confidential discussion regarding the role and to understand the complete application process. Complete applications must be made before 11:55 pm on Friday 21st February 2025.

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